The problems of scale formation and its attendant effects have troubled water systems for years. For instance, scale tends to accumulate on internal walls of various water systems, such as boiler and cooling systems, thereby materially lessening the operational efficiency of the system.
One particular type of deposit, silica, has proven to be especially troublesome. This invention is directed toward those water systems where silica deposition is most problematic.
In cooling water systems, silica forms a deposit on the metal surfaces which contact the water flowing through the system. In this manner, heat transfer efficiency becomes severely impeded. This, in turn has a deliterious effect on the overall operating efficiency of the cooling water system.
Although steam generating systems are somewhat different from cooling water systems, they share a common problem in regard to deposit formation. As detailed in the Betz Handbook of Industrial Water Conditioning, 8th Edition, 1980, Betz Laboratories, Inc., Trevose, Pa. pages 85-96, the formation of scale and sludge deposits on boiler heating surfaces is a serious problem encountered in steam generation. Although current industrial steam producing systems make use of sophisticated external treatments of the boiler feedwater, e.g., coagulation, filtration, softening of water prior to its being fed into the boiler system, these operations are only moderately effective. In all cases, external treatment does not in itself provide adequate treatment since muds, sludge, silts and hardness-imparting ions, such as silica, escape the treatment, and eventually are introduced into the steam generating system. As is obvious, the deposition of silica on the structural parts of a steam generating system causes poorer circulation and lower heat transfer capacity, resulting accordingly in an overall loss in efficiency.
Various methods have been utilized for resolving the problem of sludge and silt, including silica, deposition. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,578,589, Hwa et al., inhibition of scale, mud, silt and sludge deposition is achieved by adding a nonionic surface active agent, such as a polyethyleneoxy alkyl phenol, and a water soluble polymer, such as polyacrylic acid.
In Watsen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,792, the patentees disclose the problem of silicate scale formation in automobile and diesel coolant systems. They teach adding a water soluble carboxylic acid polymer along with boric acid, or borates, and nitrites.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,845, Chen, utilizes the same copolymer as utilized in the present invention to treat scale and corrosion problems in cooling and boiler water systems. The copolymer is added to the system with both a phosphonate and a zinc compound. The purpose of the copolymer is to maintain the solubility of zinc. Without this mechanism, the zinc would precipitate in the form of zinc hydroxide and would be unavailable for its desired anti-corrosion activity.